1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a cooking appliance including a display for indicating to a user the current operating stage of the cooking appliance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over the years, there have been many advances in the art of cooking appliances. Various heat sources, such as convection air, microwave and IR heating elements have been used, in one way or another, to perform cooking operations. Mechanical components such as switches, thermostats and other controls have been replaced, or at least supplemented, by electronic control systems. Rotary knobs are slowly giving way to touch pads and touch screen displays. Many new features have been added to the cooking appliance, such as pre-programmed operations, recipes, and multi-stage cooking operations. Many ovens, ranges and the like available on the market today incorporate, to certain degrees, programmable features intended to aid a consumer in performing cooking operations. Some electronic control systems for cooking appliances enable a consumer to input certain cooking information, such as cooking modes, times and temperatures, with the inputted information generally being presented in a viewable display area and used to establish a cooking operation.
As set forth above, there have been various developments in the art of cooking appliances directed to aiding a consumer in performing certain cooking operations effectively. However, there still exists a need for a more user friendly system for conveying information regarding a current operating stage to a user. More specifically, there exists a need for an electronic control system which functions to display to a user the current stage in a clear manner such that the user can be informed of the current stage of the cooking appliance, even from a distance.